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Introducing my newest Niece...
2010-02-22 18:56:00
(psst...Hey You! Yeah, you, sitting there reading this in a feed reader or on facebook, looking all comfy and cozy. You should really click over to http://www.keepingtrackoftheinsanity.com and leave a comment.

Why I've Been Too Busy To Blog:
2010-01-09 19:03:00
1. I started a new job. It's going well and I enjoy it very much. It is quite like the job I left in Boston so the learning curve is not as steep as one might expect. The main difference with this job is that I am a solid part of the department, not a half-breed with fingers in several departments. One part that I am finding that I don't much enjoy are budgets. YUCK! Although, the nerd in me loves the Excel formulas so I guess the rest of me will have to put up with it.2. Minou has been very, very ill. To the point that I was scared I'd lose her. We still don't really know what is going on and she is very weak, but she's started to resume some of her old habits and personality quirks. She's also started eating (as of this morning so we don't know how permanent a change it will be until tomorrow). Meg and I both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we saw she was eating (and she used her litter box last night on her own!).3. Meg is due to pop in just over a month (Feb 21st). Wi...
More About: Blog

Stepping into the Future
2009-12-31 19:22:00
As we approach the end of 2009 we prepare ourselves for what 2010 will bring. The hopes and dreams begin anew, the old frustrations and disappointments of the past fade into the background.We make promises, clean slates await us.What do I hope 2010 will bring?Happiness, fulfillment and joy. Of course. Isn't that what everyone wishes for the new year? I don't think I've ever heard anyone wish for trials and tribulations in their future.But that's what we get, isn't it? As we look back on life we see our lives as hard times peppered with patches of light and joy.It is the darkness that makes the light so brilliant. It is because of the difficult times that we appreciate the joyous times that much more.This year I hope to become a better person, in what way I don't know. I hope to learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of others that will help me to grow. To become the person I should be.I hope to express myself better. I'm not just talking about eloquence, I'm talking about c...
More About: Future , The Future

THIS JUST IN...
2009-12-29 20:39:00
New Nudist Airlines are booked solid!*In light of the recent attempt by a Nigerian passenger to ignite explosives smuggled on board in his underwear and the past attempt by another potential terrorist to ignite explosives smuggled in his shoes, the public has become more aware of the benefits of flying totally nude.One passenger explains that flying au naturale eliminates long security lines at the airport "They rush us through without making us walk through metal detectors. Obviously the TSA recognizes our commitment to aircraft safety."Maybe Nudist Airlines has struck upon the only idea that would actually work. After all everyone knows that new security measures will only prevent the same incident from reoccurring and will not prevent terrorists from finding new and frighteningly ingenious ways to circumvent said security measures.Also, does the TSA understand that hiring minimum wage baggage and passenger screeners, most of whom are under educated or without proper motivation to...

Whoops - I left you hanging
2009-12-28 05:06:00
So after the cookie swap things got a little hectic around the house. There were Christmas gifts to be finished and wrapped, packing for the trip to California to be done and cookies to be made.So I completely forgot to post the answer to the holiday riddle:The Apartment of Two Psychiatrists....The point was to think of what Christmas/Holiday song fit that description.Did you get it?No?Well, don't feel bad, I didn't either.The answer is:The Nutcracker SuitebwahahahahahaHope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Santa was good to you. We're still in California and I left my computer at home this trip (something I haven't done in a very long time). Right now I am on Meg's but am getting ready to join the family in watching a DVD of The Unit.(psst...Hey You! Yeah, you, sitting there reading this in a feed reader or on facebook, looking all comfy and cozy. You should really click over to http://www.keepingtrackoftheinsanity.com and leave a comment.
More About: Left

More humor in the world is exactly what is needed.
2009-12-20 12:46:00
To that end I will share something else that a friend brought to my attention via facebook:Nestle Crunch Holtine: 1800-295-0051Yes, the Nestle Crunch people are hilarious and I think they're working toward a sweeter more enjoyable world, one chocolate bar or phone call at a time.When you call (and you know you will) listen to the welcome message and when asked to press "1" for English or "2" for Spanish don't press anything.You'll be presented with other options that are hilarious. Select their "funner" menu by pressing "4" and then explore this new menu and enjoy a good laugh.On a side note I wish that I had the information presented in option "7" when I was a kid. It could have saved me quite a bit of frustration. heh.(And yes, I am up before 5am because my attention-whore-of-a-cat decided it would be fun to play table hockey on my nightstand with a glass of water at 3:43am. Simply Awesome. I guess I lost the game because I didn't return her slap shot while sleeping. I did, ho...
More About: Humor , World , The World

Something to entertain you while I recover from my baking coma - but it's a
2009-12-19 23:05:00
UPDATE:Let me say something about this clip. I don't understand the huge uproar over it. It's funny. End of story. I grew up watching Frosty the Snowman, I watch How I met your mother and Two and a half men now. Neither the TV shows or cartoon special are offensive and combining the two is pure marketing genius in my book.This whole thing reminds me of another controversy back in "the day" when some nut job with too much time on her hands started an uproar over The Little Mermaid. Something about the castles in the background looking like penises was her complaint.Really? What kind of sick f**K looks at a kids cartoon and see male genitalia? Then goes on to demand that the movie and associated merchandise be pulled from local store shelves?What's worse is that people actually jumped on the bandwagon and started boycotting and getting all angry about it. This was major news people. Anchor men and women around the country had to report this "news" with a straight face.We all know t...
More About: Baking

The Cookie Swap
2009-12-16 18:08:00
So QotU's cookie swap is tomorrow night at 7 - we'll have fun and consume copious amounts of sugar to be sure.This year I am taking a different game route than I have in the past. Meg and I attended a cookie swap last weekend at her friend's (who I shall forever call Cookie now) and she had this hilarious game where you had to figure out what holiday song belonged to the convoluted description. For example: The Apartment of two PsychiatristsIf you can figure that one out, you win. Not that I have any prizes or anything, but you get to call yourself the winner all day.For those of you who can't figure it out, well I'll post the answer on Friday so you don't spend the whole weekend losing sleep over it. heh.Anyway, so instead of the regular trivia game we'll be doing these song riddles and then play a game of holiday bingo. People love bingo right? Not to forget the cookie decorating contest.It should be a good time once I've got it all set up. If I don't post until Friday yo...

Despite what this may look like, this is not a food blog. It is a blog by a
2009-12-14 15:45:00
*******WARNING FOR K-RULES: THERE IS MENTION OF THE S-BOMB THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE POST. YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK ELSEWHERE!********So I made the sausage and peppers for QotU's office party and if I say so myself they turned out incredibly delicious.I ended up making a few adjustments to the recipe though (it IS me after all and that is just what I do):1. I don't like fennel so I substituted sweet basil and oregano. Not really an original concept but I think it worked out really well in the end.2. I chose to precook the sausage because the step requiring me to "skim the fat off" just sounded too yucky and high in fat and/or calories to be appealing. I poured about 1/4" of water into my french skillet, put the sausages in whole, turned the stove on to medium, covered and let them cook for about 15 minutes. Then I uncovered, turned the sausages and let the water cook off while allowing the sausage to brown. I then took the cooked sausages and placed them on a cutting board where I cut th...
More About: Food , Blog

Tiramisu Cookies = YUM! with a capital MORE!
2009-12-13 11:21:00
So I made the Tiramisu Cookies for QotU's office party and they were scrumptous. Meg and I tasted one and this is going to be integrated into the family cookie repetoire.While I followed the recipe as closely as I could I did make a few adjustments and think that when I make them again I'll approach a few things differently.1. I couldn't find mascarpone cheese at the local grocery store and substituted 1 part whole milk ricotta and 2 parts regular cream cheese. I mixed them on high to blend and then used them as I would mascarpone.2. The piping of the cookies was more work than it was worth. Getting them to be exactly the same size and shape (since these are sandwich cookies) was tough. Next time I'll use my smallest cookie scoop to achieve the uniform size and shape needed.3. I the filling is by far my favorite part of tiramisu. The recipe says to spread the filling but this is where I chose to use a piping bag. Made it a whole lot easier. 4. I made the cookies and filling the ...

An Italian Christmas...
2009-12-12 14:54:00
So Queen of the Universe is having an Italian themed office Chirstmas party. Okay, not so much an Italian theme as much as an Italian menu.This is where QotU has asked me to help.She is supposed to bring something Italian for the potluck and these are the recipes that I plan to make. They are new for me so I'll likely have to post about how well they were recieved and if the recipe needs any tweaking to make it better.If you're looking for something a little different than the traditional holiday menu, you might want to try to spice things up with a little ethnic twist.The first recipe is for Tiramisu Cookies by Ann Kay over at Spicyana:For cookiesButter (at room temperature) – ¼ cupConfectioners sugar – ½ cupEgg, beaten- 1All purpose flour- ½ cupFor fillingMascarpone cheese – 2/3 cupRum – 1 tbsp (Optional, though recommended)Instant coffee powder – ½ to 1 tspBrown sugar-3 tbspFor decoration2 tbsp dark coco powder1 tbsp light coco powder* I used HERSHEY’STo make th...
More About: Christmas

Gleeful
2009-12-11 11:46:00
I don't even know if that's an actual word. Not that it matters. I just watched the fall finale of Glee and am totally in love with that show. I won't spoil it if you haven't checked it out yet. Though I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to watch a feel-good, well written show starring Jane Lynch. duh.Anyway, it got me thinking about television and how effed up the schedules have become. I remember when a season opened right around the beginning of Autumn and went solid (okay, a few repeats around the holidays) until May when the season ended. We spent June, July and August outside, with family, on vacation, or whatever. We knew that when the evenings started coming earlier as the days grew shorter we would be able to watch our favorite programs before bedtime arrived.Now? Not so much. We have Summer seasons, half seasons and fall finales. What I'd like to know is why? I am a huge fan of Supernatural. Season 5 began airing on Sept 10 with the fall finale on Nov 19th. New ep...

Netflix Saves the Day
2009-12-10 11:40:00
I have been a Netflix subscriber for years, I think I signed up when it was first introduced because of my hatred of Blockbuster and their late fees. I have a horrible memory and returning a movie was never a top priority. Even now I can't seem to put the DVD's in the mail with any kind of regularity.But the streaming video they offer has saved many lazy days (I seem to have had an abundance of these since moving to Phoenix and finding myself jobless). I have used this "Watch Instantly" to view movies I would otherwise pass up. I wouldn't want to waste my DVD selection on an iffy movie that I may or may not enjoy. So I stream it online and if it fails to catch my interest I can simply move on to the next.Brilliant!One of my favorite seems to be a few movies starring Craig Ferguson (he's genuinely funny, who knew?). Saving Grace and I'll Be There are movies that I wouldn't have put in my DVD queue because I hadn't heard anything about them. Well, they are both funny and touchi...

Cobwebs...
2009-12-09 23:37:00
Having indulged in a selfimposed exile of sorts, I think it is time to return to this thing called blogging. It is time to rekindle the joy that I once found in writing and exploring the vast and sometimes incomprehensible maze that I call "Me".I have taken chances, some that I would repeat if given the chance and others that I would rethink, reconfigure or refuse. I am glad for the experiences and the knowledge that I have gathered in my basket of life. Giving myself over to the experience, the adventure has brought me to a new place, following an uncharted path.Now it is time to recommit to the part of me that enjoys the pondering and observing that goes along with writing. The adventures of the past year will fuel my imagination while my mind navigates the cobwebbed passages of grey matter that have gone unused for entirely too long.I have neglected my gift of prose so it may seem rusty, the road may be bumpy at first. This is to be expected and I hope tollerated by my few remain...

Hectic Holidays
2009-12-01 00:14:00
So posting here lately has been infrequent at best. Change is not easy and has kind of thrown me for a loop as I adjust.I think about blogging all the time - but what to blog is the great obstacle that I have yet to overcome. I haven't even really been updating my facebook status lately either. I guess I feel that I don't really have anything substantial to contribute and rather than write for the sake of writing and futher clog the blogosphere with inane ramblings that no one really cares about, I haven't written anything.I think I'm getting a little rusty too.So here I am - working through this as best as I can and trying not to miss my friends too much as the time comes and goes that I would normally be planning our annual cookie-swap and holiday fest. I would be making cookies and trimming the tree, meeting friends for dinner and gift swaps.This year, not so much. My usually hectic holidays seem kind of empty and lifeless. I have managed to get a new header up to decorate th...
More About: Holidays

K.I.T.
2009-10-23 17:44:00
When signing yearbooks at the end of my senior year of high school I always ended with K.I.T.Keep In Touch.Except that, looking back, I know that I never did. Not really. Not to any degree that would make the people that were my teenage friends my adult friends.So, as I gear up for another transition in life, moving from Boston back to the land of my youth, I am finding myself saying that I'll keep in touch.K.I.T.I want to keep in touch, not that I didn't want to then, I just have better tools with which to contact friends now. Except the phone, we had that then and I didn't use it, and I probably won't use it now. I'm just sayin'.I am on facebook (a ridiculous amount of time actually) and I have this here blog.I hope that my friends will keep tabs on me and I will do the same thanks to email, text messages and facebook.(psst...Hey You! Yeah, you, sitting there reading this in a feed reader or on facebook, looking all comfy and cozy. You should really click over to http://www....

Another reason..
2009-10-23 12:29:00
...that the University of Phoenix is terrible number 109883The "instructors" don't pay attention. They PRETEND to pay attention.Remember how I mentioned about the copy/paste version of feedback that UoP instructors or facilitators use?Well, it just got worse.Each weeks feedback also contains a summary of the score recieved for the weeks assignments. It is posted to our confidential forums so that we can only see the scores and feedback we recieve, not other students.This morning I woke an hour before my alarm and since facebook is being a bastard with its site maintenance, I decided to check out UoP to see if anything new had popped up.In one of my classes the instructor had posted our grades from last week.To my shock and horror this person had posted that I had missed the weeks assignments giving me a big fat zero.What?I anxiously checked my posted items folder and there they were - submitted according to requirements and on time.Nice.She apparently missed them in her hurry to ge...
More About: Reason

Boomerangs
2009-10-19 22:08:00
The tow hitch was installed on my car a few weeks ago. The reservation for the trailer at U-Haul has been made and confirmed for pick-up on Saturday.Now comes the part where I try to consolidate the last 11 years of my life into 142 cubic feet of space. That may sound like a good deal of room, but it isn’t. Not by a long shot. It’s enough space to fit the boxes I am packing, along with the bins I have in the storage area of my apartment.There will be a flurry of purging, recycling, donating and selling taking place this week because it all won’t fit and that in itself is stressful.Will I keep too much and find myself with a huge pile of leftover items on Saturday?Will I get rid of too much and find myself with space to fit that special chair or table set I really didn’t want to get rid of?The agony of it all has me constantly running the numbers in my head. I am no algebra whiz kid or anything, but I find myself doing math problems in my sleep. “Okay, if the box is 18”x1...

Dear Craigslist Shoppers
2009-10-14 16:55:00
There is a certain expectation of behavior when responding to an ad selling furniture and other household items that requires you to visit a total strangers home.I am sad that I have to clarify these things but apparently people are unable to pull their heads out of their own butts long enough to figure it out.1. If the ad does not specify delivery, that means you have to pick the stuff up. I do not deliver. You can ask but when I say "no" the appropriate response is no "Why?".2. When a pick up deadline is stated, it is not negotiable. It is not appropriate to ask (a) to have the seller store the items for you beyond that date, (b) ask the seller to speak to your landlord about using his basement to store the stuff or (c) whine about how unfair it all is.3. Individuals posting items for sale on CL rarely if ever are able to take credit cards. You're an idiot if you ask. Also? Checks should be extinct. If you want to write a check, take the extra 5 minutes and just withdraw the cash...

A month in the life...
2009-09-19 19:47:00
So it's been over a month since I posted here - weird, it doesn't feel like a month.Then again, it doesn't feel like we've been on vacation for the past 8 weeks, but we have.I guess it really is true that time flies when you're having fun.Having spent the better part of my adult life working in a corporate prison of beige walls, nondescript furniture and sometimes forced commeraderie, finally being free to go where I want, do what I want and spend time with those that I truely love being with, seems like a little bit of paradise in the midst of a stormy sea.Like an oasis in the desert of life.But, I hope to think that I won't return to the wasteland of marking time until something better comes along.I've wasted too many years thinking that my real life will start tomorrow. Today is all that I have, all that I am guaranteed. Maybe tomorrow will be great, but I am going to work as hard as I can to make today even better than the potential of a thousand tomorrows.Memories of goo...
More About: Life

Julie and Julia
2009-08-12 08:16:00
Tonight I went to see the movie Julie and Julia with QotU. It was a very entertaining movie and I loved seeing Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci reunited. Their collaboration in The Devil Wears Prada was one that I thoroughly enjoyed.Anyway. This movie struck a cord with me. Not just because I am a blogger, but because I am also looking for that special something in my life.I don't know what it is, I just know that 'this' isn't it. Or wasn't it.Maybe that's what all the drastic change is about. I mean, I've never been one to shy away from change. I'm not a mover and a shaker, but I certainly don't have a fear of the unknown.Like Julie, who finds herself in a job that is most certainly not what she truly wants to do, I have stirred the pot and taken a leap.Like Julia, who tried various endeavors until she found one she could sink her teeth in to (I know, a bad pun but I can't help myself), I want to embrace what makes me happy.The only question remaining is "What makes me happ...

The BEAST Auntie
2009-07-22 05:43:00
(Reading our adventures together)Auntie K-Rules is taking good care of Minou, she even posts pictures frequently on her facebook of her new 'roomie'. I think someone is going to be getting a kittie of her own when we get back (because she can't have Minou for ever!).The companionship is so much fun and rewarding when you have a pet that adores you (and I KNOW Minou loves her Auntie K-Rules!). (psst...Hey You! Yeah, you, sitting there reading this in a feed reader or on facebook, looking all comfy and cozy. You should really click over to http://www.keepingtrackoftheinsanity.com and leave a comment.

Blogher? What Blogher?
2009-07-21 22:31:00
It seems that every blog I read lately is all about Blogher 09 which is coming up in Chicago. Soon.Blogher is soon.In case you missed the gajillion blog posts about what to wear, who to see, how much wine will be consumed, what to wear, pre-Blogher parties, what to wear, post-Blogher parties, drinking wine at Blgoher or what to wear.Not that I begrudge anyone that is attending their little celebrations. It is a wonderful experience. One that Meg and I enjoyed when attending Blogher 07.We had a wonderful roomie (Hi Amber!!) and thoroughly enjoyed all the swag that we needed an additional suitcase to bring home.We enjoyed meeting the authors of our favorite blogs in person.But I just hope that I wasn't all Blogher all the time before we went because as a reader who will not be attending, reading about those who will and their excitement gets old after a dozen or so post about the same thing.Now. If you want to see what I am doing, instead of going to Blogher, then check it out.Drivin...